A-N

Alright, due to my own need for an actual story and because I rather like my train of thought, I decided to continue this. We'll see how far we'll get.

* While I certainly do not mean to hoard, I would really appreciate some reviews with your readers view on this. I mean it´s still in the work so it´s still relatively easy to
bend things in a different direction.

* If you notice any errors, typos or just a messed up sentence please tell me. I really hate it when I have read over them and find them like, weeks later. Part of what
makes a story good is proper language.

Enjoy!

When Richter woke up that morning the first thought that crossed his mind was a loud, not so subtle shit.

The moment the words he said to the boy the day before had left his mouth he damned himself. After being so persistent on their destined bond as enemies he now invited the boy along once more? What had he been thinking? The man groaned as he sat up. It was already light, but his internal clock always woke him well before the average person. There was still a way out of this. He told himself he wouldn't wait by the town's gate. If he didn't cross Emil he wouldn't wait for the boy. He roughly tossed the blanket off of him and flung his legs over the side of the bed. His hands reached for the glasses on the small bedside table, allowing him to search for his clothes. He put on the clothes to hide his delicates first, should someone enter the room. Innkeepers tended to care little about privacy.

He cared little for a large breakfast. He just wanted to leave as soon as possible. He faintly registered Aqua talking to him. His replies were curt, but she understood the reason and fell in silence behind him. When he reached the town's gate there were two emotions clashing. Emil wasn't anywhere in sight. Maybe he was early enough to slip out. Relief. So then why was he also, dare he say...dissapointed?

He huffed and increased his pace. However when he passed the gate Aqua opened her mouth before he could even be seen.

''What are you doing here Tenebone?'' She crossed her arms.

The centurion of darkness appeared mere seconds after the words were spoken and glared at his kinswoman. ''Making sure lord Emil is left in safe hands.''

Richter blinked. ''Is he...is he sleeping?''

Behind the centurion was Emil, propped up against the back of the gate's wall. His head was lowered, his chin tucked to his chest, his eyes closed. Beside him was a monster. A padfoot.

''Why did he bring his pet?'' Richter felt annoyance bubble. It was beginning to look more like a fieldtrip, something he was not in the mood for.

''Unfortunately, due to Lord Emil's determination to keep his entire encounter with you a secret, he had to lie about where to go today. Whereas I would normally come along, he insisted that I stayed put to protect Lady Marta from the ongoing threat of the vanguard.''

Richter snorted. ''Doesn't she had a whole party to do that?''

''The others have split up into different parties for different jobs.''

Both the centurions and the half-elf perked up at the sound of Emil's voice. He rubbed his face with both hands and, albeit somewhat clumsily, got up. ''We're rather short on money and Sheena thought she'd seen Lloyd, so she and Zelos are out searching for him.''

If it wasn't for the fact he had entirely different priorities and the fact that he knew it wouldn't help, Richter would have scolded Emil for telling him this. Tenebrae seemed to agree, because he sighed and although the boy did not notice, shook his head.

''So yes,'' Tenebrae scraped his throat. ''That is why I shall remain behind to help protect lady Marta.''

''You think that dog will protect you?''

The padfoot in question seemed indeed more dog than monster. Curious, it tilted its head, eyes looking up at Richter in what he would describe as bewilderment.

''I wouldn't underestimate the advantage of having a monster under your command.'' Tenebrae advised.

Ignoring the awfully true statement, Richter let out a sigh and looked at Emil. ''Are you good to go then?''

Emil nodded. He seemed excited even. He turned to Tenebrae to go through the last details. Richter decided not to wait. It seemed Emil understood by now that calling him would not help, so after quickly rounding up he jogged up to Richter and fell into place slightly behind the older man.

''So where are we heading?'' He asked while adjusting his scabbard and scarf to have them out of the way.

''To an old mansion north-east of here. About a day away.'' He glanced at Emil. ''If that's too long you can still go back.''

Emil shook his head. ''I only left Marta a note. She doesn't know where I'm going but thinks it's for her.'' His head dropped. ''I will regret that later.''

''I'm not going to give you another trinket if that's what you're hoping for.''

Emil looked up, face flustered. ''N-no I wasn't! I figured I just tell her I couldn't find whatever I was looking for.''

Richter didn't comment. Emil's relation with Marta didn't concern him.

''So what are we looking for?''

''I'm looking for a book.'' He emphasized the I. ''The owner had quite the impressive library on rare books. He died two years ago when the Great Tree attacked and the mansion is left in ruins, but fortunately, still there.''

Emil briefly wondered how Richter knew that, but if by know he had learned one thing it was did Richter did his research. The story peaked his interest though.

''Did the Great Tree really reached that far?''

''The Tree itself not per se. The roots did however.'' He turned his head. ''You ask as if you've never heard of it.''

''Ah, well.'' Emil scratched his neck.

Richter snorted, cutting the conversation to an end, to Emil's relief.

They traveled in silence for most of the day. Occasionally Emil would ask questions about the mansion or Richter's research on the matter; and of course there was the stray monster pack. Hours flew by and by the time they set up camp for the night, the sun was setting and the temperature had dropped significantly. Richter inquired Emil to start the fire, explaining he wanted to use the light to go over some notes. Emil complied and while Richter settled and surrounded himself with several rolls of paper and slightly damaged books he gathered sticks, dry leaves and the stones needed to prepare a fire. When the flames reached high enough he reached for his bag and selected several ingredients. As he cut and prepared the foot he glanced at Richter who, at a safe distance from the fire, was still occupied.

''Are all of them about the mansion?'' Richter looked up, glancing at Emil almost bewildered. He recovered quickly. Emil noted the change

''Not nearly,'' He started while stacking loose sheets together. ''Some of them are about monsters in the area, others about the owner himself. Not a clean man by all means.'' He had a harsh undertone in his voice.

''Why not?''

''It doesn't matter. He died so justice is done. This book however,'' He briefly waved a book into view which Emil recognized to be the same one he saw the man reading the day before.'' Tells me a lot more about the mansion itself. It's much larger than I anticipated and seems to have an underground connection to the Balacruf Mausoleum.''

Emil's eyes widened. ''It would take weeks to search through all that.''

''Fortunately I don't think we have to. The book I'm looking for is most likely stacked in some sort of library. It wouldn't make any sense for that to be underground.''

Emil's shoulders relaxed in relief. He handed Richter his food and cocked his head slightly in question. ''Does it say anything about why it is connected?''

Richter took a bite, glancing at Emil. ''I didn't figure you to be interested.''

Emil shrugged, slightly flustered. Truth was that he wasn't particularly interested indeed. He mainly enjoyed hearing Richter talk. It always made him feel a little closer to the man and it as an added bonus, killed some time. It turned out there wasn't much information about it. The owner had stumbled upon the underground maze by accident years after he'd moved in, which reasoned even more that the chance of the book being in the underground ruins were slim.

While they ate however, Emil's eyes spotted something on the right side of Richter. I piece of paper, old, slightly crumpled and damaged but it was what was on the paper that caught his eye. While he was sitting too far away to make out the letters of one thing he was certain.

It was exactly the same handwriting he had.

He was frozen for a few seconds. He tried to remember ever giving Richter a letter. His gaze on the paper was broken as Richter tore it from his view, stacking all the paper together before putting it away. The man raised his eyebrows at the baffled look Emil was giving him.

''What?''

Emil tore his eyes away and shook his head. ''Nothing. I'm sorry.''

Richter snorted. They ate the rest of their food in silence. As night fell they decided to call it a day early. As the padfoot ran off into the night to hunt, they considered letting the fire burn until it died out on its own but ultimately decided against it as the fire might attract unwanted attention. The padfoot would find its way back on its own. So once the fire had been reduced to smoldering ashes and smoke, they crawled back towards their sleeping mats. To Emil, the silence that followed between them had become awkward. He was positive he had never wrote anything to Richter. Had he gotten his hand on pages from his journal? If so, why? There wouldn't be anything of interest to him. He mused about this for what must have been a long time, for when Emil rolled over on his side to look at the man, he was asleep. He too, was lying on his side, his back turned towards Emil. His breathing had evened out to a slow and steady rhythm. Emil kept staring at the man's back for a while. Then his eye caught sight of something. Not far from Richter's head was the man's bag.

Emil knew this was a very, very bad idea, his stomach churning in guilt and nerves of what he was about to do.

The boy sat up and crawled over to his companion's bag, careful to make as little sound as possible. He kept a close eye on Richter's form the entire time, even has he flipped the bag open. Fortunately for him, the papers were stacked on top of the books, gels and everything else the man had packed. Carefully removing the stack, all the while still keeping a close eye on the male still sleeping soundly, he closed the bag and placed it as close to its previous position as possible. He cast his eyes on the sheets of paper in his hand and went through them, quickly finding the one he'd been looking for.

His heart thumped loudly as he read the letter. It was definitely his handwriting, there was no mistaking it. But these were not his words. Not his way of formulating. There were too many words he didn't understand. It seemed like a report about experiments. Observations, notes scribbled on the sides, little drawings that seemed to have the function of explaining. He didn't understand how everything, down to the way of the comma's and dots were so similar. When his eyes reached the last word, he heart skipped a beat. He fell backwards on his bottom instead of crouching, baffled. Next, everything happened in an instant.

He faintly registered the mistake he had made. For a split second he felt himself gently colliding with what couldn't be anyone but Richter. But not gentle enough. In one swift movement, the older male had shot up and moved his arm backwards in a quick and sweeping motion. It hit the boy in the neck, knocking him towards the ground as he kept putting pressure behind his arm. The boy's head hit the ground, but again, no time to register. He was rolled over to his back and gasped as a knee roughly pressed against his groin. With his left arm pinned beside his head with an elbow and the length of the lower arm putting a painful pressure on his throat he was now struggling to breathe. He gasped, grasping the arm with his free hand. The pressure disappeared almost immediately and as his eyes focused, he was able to see Richter, looking both pissed and surprised.

''Emil? What were you-'' Green eyes fell on the sheets of paper not far from the young male's head. And Emil realized, as Richer recognized the page, just how big of a mistake he had made. Richter's eyes shot to his, looking angrier than he had ever seen the man be at him. Richter, who had made no move to remove himself shot his knee forward with renewed force at the same time his hand shot towards the boy's throat. Emil let out a pained yelp before the ability to breathe was taken from him again. His head was kept still and he was forced to look at the glaring eyes of the man above him.

''I don't know what the hell you were thinking...''The man growled, the grip around Emil's throat tightening at the same time the other hand raised the paper. ''But you better have a damn good reason for going through my belongings.'' Emil's hands clawed at Richter's, unable to call on his voice. His eyes began to water both from the lack of air and fear coursing through his veins. The man gritted his teeth and released his grip on the boy's neck. Emil coughed and held his neck as he gasped for air. Richter scoffed and got up, pointing his now drawn sword at Emil.

''Well?''

''T-The handwriting-''

Richter arched his eyebrows as he interrupted him, his voice tainted with disbelief. ''The handwriting? You stole-''

''It's the same as mine!'' Emil gasped out, his body shaking.

This stopped Richter's train of thought. He looked baffled. ''You're saying you went through my letters and found one that has similar writing. That's it?''

Emil shook his head fervently. ''No! I saw it from a distance a few hours ago. I already recognized the handwriting. I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone through your notes!''

Richter merely scoffed at him. He was still mad, but it seemed curiosity got the better of him. He looked at the notes now in his hand. Emil remained still, awaiting Richter's actions in silence. The older man pushed up his glasses as he glanced at Emil. ''Go back to sleep, before I change my mind.'' He grunted, giving Emil a warning glare.

Emil nodded, still rubbing his neck, and scrambled away from the man. His heart was thumping loudly. What was I thinking?! He fought the tears behind his eyes. His breathing hitched every now and then, but he forced himself to sob as silently as possible.

''...Emil.''

''Huh?'' Emil froze, not quite daring to turn to the man.

''Did you read it all the way through?''

The man's voice sounded closer than before and by now Emil felt he had no other choice than to look at him. He nodded.

''It's from Aster.''

Richter nodded.

''Yes. It's his notes on one of our last researches together.''

Emil looked at Richter more closely. His expression had changed. His brows furrowed together, his lips pressed together into a tight line and his eyes fixed on the paper. Emil looked at his hands now folded in his lap. Another silence followed, during which Emil lied down and curled up, realizing just what kind of an emotional turmoil he must have caused to the man sitting a few feet away from him.

''I'm sorry.'' He murmured, just barely loud enough to hear.

For once, Richter didn't reprimand him for it.